A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to serial computer input devices and in particular to a peripheral smart card device which includes a microprocessor and a modular computer circuit board having a network interface circuit.
B. Prior Art
Small transaction devices such as smart card devices, magnetic swipe devices, fingerprint readers and other biometrics devices are becoming increasingly popular in the United States, as well as abroad. The use of these transaction devices is currently common in the credit card, banking and security industries. Although smart card technology has been around for some time in Europe, smart card technology is just beginning to gain popularity in the United States, especially in the health care industry and with the government.
Currently, these small transaction devices communicate serially with a computer in order to transmit data to (or receive data from) the computer or a network system via that computer. This connection may be made using a serial cable which fits into one of the computer's communication ports. As serial devices, these small transaction devices have several very prominent drawbacks that are overcome by the present invention.
1. Sharing
Current smart card devices transfer data using a serial communication interface. A serial communication interface refers to the manner in which data is sent over the serial cable that connects the serial device to another computer. When it is said that data bytes are sent "serially", it is meant that that data bytes are sent one bit at a time, from one end of the serial connection to the other, in series. The bits are then reassembled back to data bytes when they reach the other end of the serial cable connection. This is the same technique used by most computer modems to transmit data from one computer to another.
In systems using physical cabling to connect the transaction devices to a computer, the serial cables must be severely limited in length to avoid signal degradation. Furthermore, the speed of data transfer over that cable is also limited and is several orders of magnitude lower than internal personal computer data transfer rate (over 100 million bits per second) or Local Area Network (LAN) data transfer rate (generally between 4 and 16 million bits per second). In fact, a serial connection is generally limited to a transfer rate of less than 100,000 bits per second.
Furthermore, current smart card and other small transaction devices require connection to a personal computer to support communication with other devices. In most instances, absent a terminal server or other like device, two personal computers in a local area network (LAN) could not both use the services of a single serial device without physically disconnecting that serial device from one computer and reattaching it to the other computer. Although one can use a terminal server to allow multiple users to access a serial device, current terminal servers and other like devices are not technologically advanced enough to support smart card serial devices. Thus, although there exists some means for sharing serial technology, until now, there has been no means for sharing smart card serial devices.
2. Node Limitations
Another limitation with serial devices is that only a limited number of serial devices can be connected to any one computer. Currently, not many more than 250 serial devices can be connected to any one computer. Again, this limits the current applications of smart card technology.
3. Polling
Currently available smart card devices also do not initiate data transfer on their own. Consequently, even the physical act of inserting a smart card into the smart card device does not initiate the data transaction. It is the associated computer's responsibility to "ask" the smart card devices, which are serially attached to the personal computer, whether each smart card device has a transaction present. This is a technique called "polling". The computer must constantly (and wastefully) poll the serial smart card device to determine if a transaction is present. Then, the computer must recognize that a transaction is waiting and specifically instruct the smart card device to engage itself for the transaction.
4. Intelligence
Smart card devices and most other transactional devices have been designed to only function as a serial device, and nothing more. The devices have no capability other than to respond to a server-initiated transaction and have not been designed to perform any other ancillary function. Likewise, current smart card devices have no ability to actuate other devices.
Many of the aforementioned problems that limit applications for smart card devices also limit the application of other small transaction devices such as, magnetic swipe device, fingerprint readers and other biometrics devices. Thus, while this disclosure is directed toward the employment of this technology to smart card devices, the foregoing technology can also be used in connection with other small transaction devices having the same, or nearly the same inherent limitations as today's smart card devices.